The Doctor Visit

I called my mom last night to talk/vent. I knew she'd make me feel better and attempt to call my heart. She did.

I mentioned the name of the dr. I was going to see today (friday) and she said, He isn't a neurologist. I thought he was, but in fact she was right, he is an ortho guy. Ortho guys don't diagnose MS.

BUT he was able to calm me down. Here are some of the things he said, not in any order. You do not look like anyone who has MS and I have seen MS patients. You need to stay away from the computer. I was just in a room with a lady who said she needs to go to Florida for treatment and I told her if she really wants the best I can send her to a dr in Arizona not the doctor in Florida. She needs to stay off that computer, it's all horse(beep) anyways. Yea you are right. So my MRI film shows that my neck isn't really that bad. Ya, but sometimes it just takes a little. I have the feeling of a band being wrapped around my arm. Yes, that is something I have seen with people who have bad backs. Look, you can go searching and searching for an MS diagnosis and eventually you could find it if you find the right doctor. You say it enough, to enough dr.s and eventually you will find one THEN you'll be labeled forever with this. (Basically he was saying if I force it I will get a diagnosis that may not be right.) I would get a spinal tap and if it comes back clean, let it go. If in some years you have symptoms, then we can re-evaluate. We have your film so there will be something to compare to. Do you think I could get shots in my neck? Would that help? We can definitely try. I will order those. You don't strike me as the crazy type, so I don't think you're crazy. Now a patient I saw earlier, they were crazy. She came in here with this and that. No I'm NOT crazy I'm just tense. Ya, I can tell. The radiologist said there were 2 spots that could be from migraines, but didn't say it was MS. I was telling a friend that it seems one radiologist may read film one way and another radiologist may read it another. Let me tell you about radiologist. They put us dr's in a bind. They are bound by lawyers. They have to say EVERYTHING they see so they don't get sued. They can never give a definitive answer on anything. They sit behind their desk, drink coffee and just say ALL they see. It really hurts us trying to treat patients. I NEVER read a radiologists report before I look at the film first and come to my own conclusions.

He is betting his chips that everything is disc related.

I go to the neurologist in Sept. He'll be able to figure it all out. We'll see what happens, but in the meantime, I choose to believe him. I choose to believe I'm fine and just have a horrible back. I wanted to ask why swimming bothered me so much, but I forgot. I'm just guessing the twisting of my neck, but I don't know. That's probably a cop out.